Valency of Carbon is

Valency of carbon is 

A. 1

B. 4

C. 3

D. 2

Answer:- (B) 4

Explanation: The Valency of carbon is 4.

• Valency:- It can be defined as a measure of the combined power or the capability of a given element to form a molecule or a chemical compound with atoms of some other elements. In other words, it can be defined as the number of electrons present in the outer shell in the electronic configuration of an atom.

• In the atomic structure of a carbon atom, there are only 4 electrons prevailing in the second shell. An atom of carbon has the electronic configuration as “2, 4” which means it has 2 electrons in its 1st shell and 4 electrons in its 2nd shell. It needs to have 8 atoms in its last shell. But It is not able to gain 4 more electrons through the formation of ions due to its adverse energy considerations, and as a result, carbon resorts to attaining the electronic configuration of neon. It is also not viable for an atom of carbon to lose these four electrons and attain the electronic configuration of helium in lieu of the reason mentioned above. However, carbon can form covalent bonds by sharing these 4 electrons. 

• It can form 4 covalent bonds which means that it is tetravalent. It has a valency of 4 which is as per the rule i.e. Group No. 14 -> 10 = 4. The sharing of 4 more electrons gained from some other atoms fulfills the requirement of 8 electrons of a carbon atom and hence, it becomes stable as soon as it forms 4 covalent bonds.

• Carbon has the ability to bond with 4 other atoms of carbon (or any other element having 1 valency) as its valency is 4. Carbon compounds are prepared with elements such as N (Nitrogen), O (Oxygen), H (hydrogen), Cl (Chlorine), S (sulphur), and a lot more.